Sunday game

Nice to see that the team avoided losing three straight again yesterday…time to start up a streak of the other kind, now. What a performance by Clayton Kershaw, who is coming into his own before our very eyes. It’s been an impressive six-week run he’s been on.

We also just announced a sellout of Manny bobblehead night on Wednesday but plenty of other games still with tickets left for this homestand.

This Thursday is James Loney’s bowling event, too. If you haven’t been at this in the past, it’s an impressive turnout. Probably more of our players than any other event that we have all year and it raised money for the Dodgers Dream Foundation and Childrens Hospital, which is why the price tag is a little steep. I hope some of you can make it out there.

Here’s the lineup

Furcal, SS

Hudson, 2B

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Ethier, RF

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

Ausmus, C

Kuroda, P

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Josh – we really wanted to do the bowling tourney, but it was out of our price range for this year. We are going to save and try for it next year. It sounds like fun!! Thanks for the updates, and yes, Kersh did a fabulous job last night, and as far as trade rumors about him, he is a definite untouchable in my book.

Figured that JP would be in for Manny today, so I wrote this. My bad, but here it is anyway: Steve Miller, Abracadabra.
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JOJO CAN’T STAND YA
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Who is dat?, it’s JoJo the Clown.
He gets his bully up and down
Up and down and so it goes
Who’s coming in now?, nobody knows.
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Starts him line-ups that are so lame,
Yet they say that he’s Hall of Fame.
Every game full of disasters;
Pour more Cuervo cuz its time to get plastered.
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JoJo, JoJo can’t stand ya
I wish that Frank would just can ya.
JoJo, JoJo can’t stand ya
I just can’t stand ya.
.
You get me pist, you make me sigh,
You take out Dre, there’s no reason why.
You’ve got a yearnin’, its JP love
His popgun stick and a poison glove.
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JoJo, JoJo can’t stand ya
I wish that Frank would just can ya.
JoJo, JoJo can’t stand ya
I just can’t stand ya.
.
Don’t see no magic in your moves
A PR showman that’s all tongue, no groove.
BS and cliche, the railing’s his place
Old Father Time with a basset face.
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Game time’s tragic, line-ups a mess
Start PVLs from the pool of a cess
Just when I think we’re gonna see Matt play
I see the scorecard and I wanna say…
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JoJo, JoJo can’t stand ya
I wish that Frank would just can ya.
JoJo, JoJo can’t stand ya
I just can’t stand ya.
.
Starts him line-ups that are so lame,
Yet they say that he’s Hall of Fame.
Every game full of disasters;
Pour more Cuervo cuz its time to get plastered.
.
I’m pist off, I can’t calm down
Makes my BP’s up from JoJo the Clown.
I’m pist off, I can’t calm down
Makes my BP’s up from JoJo the Clown.
I’m pist off, I can’t calm down
Makes my BP’s up from JoJo the Clown.

BitterSweet…..Congratulation’s to Cink….The Jug is on our side of the pond…..Tom we still love ya buddy 🙂 Thanks for a week of wonderful memories :))
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GO DODGERS GO!!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!
.
WE LOVE OUR DODGERS
365 DAY’S A YEAR
24 HOURS A DAY
7 DAYS A WEEK
EVERYDAY THE DODGERS WIN IS A DAY CLOSER TO # 7

BitterSweet…..Congratulation’s to Cink….The Jug is on our side of the pond…..Tom we still love ya buddy 🙂 Thanks for a week of wonderful memories :))
.
GO DODGERS GO!!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!
.
WE LOVE OUR DODGERS
365 DAY’S A YEAR
24 HOURS A DAY
7 DAYS A WEEK
EVERYDAY THE DODGERS WIN IS A DAY CLOSER TO # 7

BitterSweet…..Congratulation’s to Cink….The Jug is on our side of the pond…..Tom we still love ya buddy 🙂 Thanks for a week of wonderful memories :))
.
GO DODGERS GO!!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!
.
WE LOVE OUR DODGERS
365 DAY’S A YEAR
24 HOURS A DAY
7 DAYS A WEEK
EVERYDAY THE DODGERS WIN IS A DAY CLOSER TO # 7

BitterSweet…..Congratulation’s to Cink….The Jug is on our side of the pond…..Tom we still love ya buddy 🙂 Thanks for a week of wonderful memories :))
.
GO DODGERS GO!!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!
.
WE LOVE OUR DODGERS
365 DAY’S A YEAR
24 HOURS A DAY
7 DAYS A WEEK
EVERYDAY THE DODGERS WIN IS A DAY CLOSER TO # 7

Josh lets be honest , the only reason that the price is so steep is to to keep all the hoodlums from showing up, not to benifit the hospital. I am a patient at childrens hospital and let me tell you everything is pretty much state of the art there, so i dont really think there hurting for money especially after that bond that the voters gave them last year. But you guys(the dodgers) are alienating all the low income people like myself from enjoying these types of events. I would give an arm and a leg to be able to go to the under the lights event but I would basically have to get a loan to attend. So josh in the future when you guys are having your brainstorming meetings to figure out how to get even more money out of our already depleted wallets, mention to them that there alot of die hard dodger fans that also want to interact with the players and celebrities in a setting in public and not the controlled ones like at the staduim were you guys put up a fence.

My computer is not cooperating in the least the last couple of days, so this is a little late, but I still wanted to comment on how the Kid stepped up last night. Just reinforces my opinion about not trading him for anybody. With his upside, the only pitchers I’d trade for him have been retired for a long time.

Furcal is a total pissant. You have to sign him for a three year contract, so that he can use one year to recover from his previous DL stint; then he may play ball for a year; then be back on DL for the third year.

No, he doesn’t. PP went 0-7 in his two appearances this week, and costs us a couple of runs at least. So, just in defense alone, I rather have Andre and Matt out there. …………and Charlie needs to stop looking at the frikin’ batting average as a gauge of how they are doing. Andre is still leading in HRs and RBI’s so back off Charlie!!!

Nice Team Win Boy’s!!!
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Way to help the pitching staff out today. Mota,Troncoso and Brox……Good Job closing the door…LIGHTS OUT!!!!
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Kemp and Ausmus…..:)
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GO DODGERS!!!!!
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!
KEEP ON TRUCKIN……. RIGHT ON THROUGH THE REDS!!!!!

Evening all! Glad to see us pull it out! The resilience of this team will serve us well late in the season and through the playoffs! I’m hoping tomorrow we can win and get to the magic 25 games above .500! Let’s all wish Jason Schmidt luck in this test of his arm as he could be a boost to our rotation if he is healthy and pitching well. And, he could also earn his money!

ATTENTION DODGERFANS! URGENT NOTICE!
After chasing the Roadrunner through the hills of Chavez Ravine unsuccesfully, I took in a game and consumed a Dodgerdog. I would like to covey my sincere appreciation for the lives of Henny Penny, Porky the Pig and Betsy the Cow…. May you rest in peace.
We now return you to your regulary scheduled programming.

bpb, great song!!!
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I’m ashamed to admit I can’t remember the web address for the Dodgers song blog. A little help?
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Thanks to Matty, JoJo escapes his managerial midget-mindedness once again.
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Why the he** do we have Popgun if not to run? Will there be a better situation anywhere in baseball all season for the limited uses of a Juan Pierre-type than with a relatively slow and somewhat injured runner (Andre) on first base with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning in a tie game against a catcher who has thrown out less than 25% of runners attempting to steal and a shutdown closer warming up in the pen? WAKE UP JOE!! All you gotta do is put Speedy McFloppyCap in, give him a pitch to steal on, and have Loney sacrifice him to third. Then we get Kemp and if necessary Asmus to bring him home.
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Fortunately, the Young Guns are good enough to overcome the lack of baseball common sense exhibited by this alleged HOF manager. I’ll bet most 12-year-olds who follow the game regularly would have recognized the no-brainer decision JoJo should have made here. And not a few 7-year-olds.

Hey nelly!
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I’m doing okay. Working for my dad and studying for the bar for the third time. Ouch!.
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I gotta get out to a ITD event so I know all of you by face. Plus I haven’t visited often enough to keep up with the name changes.
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How’s your summer? When do you go back to school? You’re not on year-round are you?

As the saying goes……….. Third time is a charm. Always wishing you the best. How is your brother doing? We heard from him a while back too. Is he still in DC?

As for me……….summer is going great. Next Sunday we leave for a week in Vegas and So. Cal coast. I officially report back to school on August 11 (students show up the 17th), but I will start heading back the first week in August. I moved classrooms and have to unpack this time around.

Well, we are hoping to make the ITD tour thing into an ITD tour day from now on. So, maybe next go around you will be able to go.

Do you really think Loney would have bunt for a guy that try to bunt one time and failed? Kemp would have been ibb and you never know that Brad might ground into a dp. I would not want to use that less than 25% against a 13 times gold glove catcher like Pudge and I think his number are down because of the pitchers delivery.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Porky Pig was killed Friday morning while touring a Vernon, CA meat packing plant. Hundreds of similar looking pigs had their heads mashed in by a sledgehammer and it was said that Porky had accidently gotten in what he thought was the line for the cafeteria, though unsubstantiated reports claim that Mr. Pig was on an eating binge and just wanted it to end.
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Barnyard services were held yesterday with Babe giving the eulogy: “Porky always said that he wanted to go out makin’ bacon, and in an ironic twist, he did.” Porky is survived by his common law wife Petunia Pig, and what has been rumored to be his children from a previous cartoon marriage, The Three Little Pigs, though that could not be confirmed at the time this story was published.
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The Porky Pig Foundation has been set-up to help prevent further tragedies from occurring. Donations can be made through Farmer John and Jimmy Dean.
———————————————————-

Good Morning ITD
I see BrownPaperBag is Back…..LOL! Do we need to boycott plastic bags again????
*
Well I was out of town during the 2-game loosing streak we had…booo hoooo! Well thank God for just the 2-game loosing streak and it does not go beyond that. Well I was in San Diego all day Thursday and part of Friday. Visiting the beautiful places San Diego has to offer (GasLamp District, Petco Park, Seaport Village, & Old Town) and I walked it all. It kinda sucked after the long break of the All-Star games, then not being able to see a Dodger Game til Saturday or visit ITD. I soooo needed my Dodger fix. Did not see Manny’s (welcome home) game at Dodger Stadium…..But did not miss much. Too bad we lost that one. But I did enjoy (from home) Saturday’s & Sunday’s game….GOOOOO DODGERS. Of course KEMP is still HOT, HOT, HOT. I hope Hudson comes back soon and that it is nothing serious. I did see when Ethier got hurt…OUCH and I hope that it is not seriouse. I am glad that he did tough it out, but I do think he needed to rest. I am sooooo ready for tonight’s game GOOOOOO DODGERS!

BPB….Well “ENCHANTED” is just full of it…he is this song writer (but his songs suck)……he is not here right now so we can talk crap about him….LOL Just kidding your songs are the best and we won’t talk crap, but he is still full of it….LOL! What is the protest about now?

You know bpb…………….. they have several children’s books nowadays that mix up all the characters from several cartoons. They are alot of fun to read. You might have a future in children’s book writing. However, you may want to leave out the sledgehammer part :)) However, I can’t read the Little Red Riding Hood to my class because I hate having to answer the question……. If the grandma was eaten by the wolf, how did Little Red Riding Hood get her out?

I am surpised Andre finished the game after what happened to him. After reading the homepage article, I watched that inning since he said his leg went numb, and I just loved how PP (which I am sure was told) got up and got his bat like this was happy day for him.

Here’s an interesting quote from a “Dodger source”. Two things in that quote stand out to me. 1) I apparently know nothing about what a good defensive outfielder is, and 2) I apparently know nothing about what makes up a good team player. Note that the second paragraph in the article is not from the “Dodger source”, it’s from the author of the article.

“And Juan Pierre, the Dodgers’ first-half savior while Ramírez was serving his 50-game drug suspension, will likely be shopped before the deadline. One Dodgers source said, “We really don’t want to move him because he did so much for us, and we feel he could really help us as a defensive player and as a hitter, but whether we can keep him happy enough to not be a distraction is what we’re concerned about.”

While you never want to subtract depth, you need to have players who will accept roles. There’s a feeling that Pierre’s skills will not be utilized properly if he’s coming off the bench. Pierre also is owed $10 million next year and $8.5 million in 2011 as part of a five-year, $44 million deal. That’s a lot of money for a fourth outfielder.”http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2009/07/19/ball_is_in_dodgers_court/

You watch, NellyJune, PP will start today……..Joe will think Dre needs to rest his injury (whether Andre wants to or not).
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Dodgereric ~ NOBODY WANTS PP!!!!!!!!! They all know what we know……….PP SUCKS!!!!

Now Junie, let’s be fair. If I were the manager, I’d have told Pierre to run back and take some whacks at that tee in the “Gibson cage” too. Ethier didn’t look to me like he was going to be able to finish his at-bat. He was down a long time.

Before I ever saw him with a bat in the dugout, I thought Pierre’d be going in.

Kemp is now batting .321/.385/.500 with 30 extra-base hits and 20 steals in 90 games, rates as the third-best defensive outfielder in the NL according to Ultimate Zone Rating, and ranks third in the league in runs above replacement level behind only Albert Pujols and Chase Utley.

“Despite all of that, Kemp wasn’t picked for the All-Star game while eight outfielders and a grand total of 21 position players made the NL squad and has inexplicably batted higher than sixth in the Dodgers’ lineup just 13 times. Meanwhile, he’s batted seventh 40 times and either eighth or ninth 18 times. Has a 24-year-old career .305/.352/.482 hitter and Gold Glove-caliber center fielder ever received less credit?

As a wise man once said: “I’m speechless. Speechless. I have no speech.”

As a regular player Kemp now has the highest BA on the team. Considering the lost number of at bats by being placed at the bottom of the lineup, he’s also the most underutilized regular player on the team. Does Joe the Idiot ever consider that?

Thinking about Pierre, I wondered to myself if I’d rather be a bench player on a championship team…or play every day for an also-ran. Have to admit, I’d rather play every day. Championships are fleeting. Other than that kindergartener, phan, who the hell cares the Phils won last year? Off the top of your collective ITD heads, who the World Series three years ago? I’d much rather participate than spectate.

Not to change the Pierre subject…but as a graybeard, yesterday was a tough day to watch both Tom Watson and Lance Armstrong come up short. Up at 4:30 am, no less, to see it all unfold. Father Time is evil. Just ask Mark Sweeney.

Agreed, peru. Before Sunday’s game, Steve Lyons was justifying Pierre’s start by saying he has the best batting average on the team. He was conveniently forgetting Ramirez, of course.

As has been complained about here many times, they’re all falling over each other to tell us about Ethier’s struggles at the plate. Every at bat. OK, he’s only hitting .254 for the season. Pretty poor for him, we’ll all agree.

What about St Pierre?
Since May 29th he’s hitting .248 with 5 doubles and a triple.

Ethier (that slumping dog) since May 29th is hitting .250 with 7 doubles, 1 triple and 12 home runs.

Even if we said they were even defensively (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!), I kind of like those dingers.

OK, let’s change the subject.

If you needed more incentive NOT to tear your team apart for a 1 1/3 year rental:

As usual you guys crack me up. Poor Porkey Pig! Consider what this poor thing had to overcome: a challenging speech impediment and the fact he had no pants. How many of us could last as long as he did under the same challenges?

As for JP, I think you can excuse the Dodger announcers for how they portray JP. While I don’t consider them as “homers’ in the traditional sense, historically Dodger broadcasters have accentuated the positive over the negative. I have heard Vinny be a bit critical at times but usually he directs that criticism at the whole team and rarely at an individual. As for others in the media I believe they were so impressed with what JP (and the Dodgers) accomplished while Manny was on vacation they cannot help but lavish praise on JP. Remember, to many in the media, this team was all about Manny. I am not saying everyone felt that way because as I recall most on this blog were confident the Dodger could win without Manny because we believed in the other players abilities. JP’s play during Manny’s absence surprised most of us and he got the kudo’s for that play. There is no doubt his play contributed greatly to the Dodger’s sucess while Manny was serving his suspension and it is that play that continues in the minds of a lot of people.

lbirken – funny stuff about Porky 🙂 As for JP, I have been listening to Charlie and Rick and they haven’t been too positive about Andre. It’s always “slumping Andre”, with not ever mentioning that he is leading the team in HRs and RBIs. I don’t mind the slumping statement, but just back it up with what he has done that’s good too. It’s the portrayal that JP is the only one that has contributed to the team while Manny was gone that bugs me. Well, Andre had a pretty significant role in some of those wins as well that the batting average doesn’t show, like many of the players on the team have had in addition to JP. However, I think you are right, they are looking at what JP is usually capable of and seeing what he actually did do and using that as their motivator to speak highly of him.

Nelly, let me put it another way. For the most part, JP has pretty much performed up to his capabilities while he has worn the Dodger uniform. Forget how much he is being paid for a moment and consider what he brought to the team and what he has done while a Dodger. I suggest you try to find another free agent signing where the player performed as expected (or better than expected). Most don’t. JP has. He has no potential and he has pretty much done with the Dodgers what he did when he played for other teams. Again, forget the arguments about his pay or his value to the team.

Andre, fairly or not, is another issue. From what I see Andre (and Matt and James) have huge upsides whether real or imagined. While no one really believe JP will ever be better at anything, most want to believe Andre can do a lot better than he has done. I agree that Andre has had to prove himself many times and I think he has himself to blame for that. Honestly, did anyone really think of him as a power hitter when he came up with the Dodgers? At that time the Dodgers had a number of outfielders fighting for playing time and they all looked like the same player. I am talking about Werth, Repko, Ethier and to some extent Kemp as well although I think he had some abilities these other players do not have. Anyway, if you go back a few years ago did it really look as if any of these players would be superstars? Werth and Repko were always hurt and I really believe the Dodgers never felt Andre would be anything better than a decent hitting, good defensive player but with questionable power. Andre also has suffered a tremendous drop in batting average this season and some wonder how much Manny helped him last season when Andre did so well late in the season.

I understand many of you are big fans of Andre. You have come to expect a lot from him and we know Andre expects a lot from himself. No one expects much from JP and there is no mystery to his game. But for Andre, one at bat he is hitting into a rally killing double play and the next he hits a game winning home run. You are greatly disappointed when he hits into the double play but not terribly surprised when he hits that double down the line or gets that game winning hit because you knew he could do it all the time. For whatever reason Andre still has not established an identity for himself. He is not consistent and he is still chasing that ever elusive “potential”.

Don’t get me wrong; I like him too. I would rather have him out there than sit on the bench. When he came to the Dodgers he had a reputation as a good hitter and he has had a lot of success. Did I think he would hit for power as he has done? I certainly did not and my guess is the Dodgers did not think so either. The challenge for the Dodgers and Andre is to figure out what sort of hitter he can be and then become that hitter. It is my understanding that when Eric Karros came up to the big club he was a decent hitter but favored hitting for average over hitting for power. Someone in the organization saw some power potential and convinced Karros to sacrifice average for power. I know many don’t think much of Karros but I thought a lot of him as many of you do about Ethier. I liked him a lot (perhaps it was the UCLA connection) and I believe he learned to hit for power and it kept him in the big leagues. I am starting to think Andre may be in a similar situation. If I am right, can he actually become that type of hitter? If he does become that type of hitter and can hit 25-30 home runs a year, he (and the fans) might just have to accept the strikeouts and double plays. I can live with that.

I agree about giving credit to Juan for his good play, but that has not held over. Maybe sulking puts you into a slump? Anyway, the announcers need to pay attention to the Kemps, Ethiers, C. Blakes and Mannys that are our best hitters overall.

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